Bed of the Dead

With a title like "Bed of the Dead" I wrongly assumed that this was going to be some kind of silly horror comedy. It is not. The film opens with a pretty gruesome scene involving an execution on a tree, obviously set in the past. Then the tree later gets turned into a large bed. Fast forward to the present day and two couples rent an expensive room at a sex club, which contains said bed. Hallucinations and death replace the fun and sex that they were seeking... Like I said this is not a comedy but played perfectly straight. It's not a bad film, there are some neat visuals and it is pretty gory. In addition to the two couples the story is also as much about the troubled policeman investigating the case. I like the way that the film intertwines the relationship between him and the female victims, for example they are speaking together by 'phone yet at different hours respectively. However the film has some weaknesses, including the characters/actors. It's pretty average, though it's the best bed horror movie that I can recall seeing. But as "DeathBed" is the only other one that does not say much!

This movie story felt a bit original and it was entertaining. The actors were pretty decent but not 100% convincing. Do like the time line thing they had going on. Do to this the ending was predictable though.

Admittedly, I was lured in by the title of the movie; "Bed of the Dead", as it could have been either a comedy addition to the zombie genre, or that it might actually be a movie about a deadly bed. And being a life-long fan of the horror genre, then of course I did opt for sitting down to watch "Bed of the Dead", even without having read the synopsis for the movie.

It was a little bit hard, no pun intended, for me to get fully into the groove and atmosphere of this movie, as it was set in an underground sex club. I am not a prude or anything, but the setting of the movie was just a bit too tacky.

I can't claim to be familiar with anyone on the cast list, for better or worse. Admittably then I usually do find it refreshing and nice to have all new faces perform in movies, as there are no associations to previous characters portrayed in other movies. And such was also the case with "Bed of the Dead". The cast was doing good jobs with their given roles and characters.

Writer Cody Calahan and writer/director Jeff Maher opted for a story that jumps back and forth between what happened in room 18 to the four young people and the present time where the police are investigating the gruesome scene in room 18. Personally, I can't claim to find that to be a particularly good way of presenting a story, because you are already made well aware of the outcome of the movie right from the very beginning, leaving little room for surprises and plot twists along the way.

The visual effects and CGI in the movie were quite good, and there is a fair amount of violence and gore to keep most gorehounds and fans of the horror genre satisfied.

Story-wise then "Bed of the Dead" didn't prove to be spectacular or outstanding in any way. Was it entertaining? Well, sure, it was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. Just don't expect to be blown away or kept at the edge of your seat. And this is hardly the type of movie that you will return to watch a second time, provided you get through it the first time.

I will say that the movie is fairly well paced, although it loses its momentum some time after the halfway point, where the movie settles down into a slow paced trot. Which only makes it all the more of an ordeal to actually maintain interest and focus on the movie.

All in all, not the best of forays into the horror genre, but definitely not among the worst either. The overall impression with "Bed of the Dead" was a mediocre one for me. As such, then I am rating it 5 out of 10 stars.

Dwelling (2016) is another movie I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline follows a pair of couples who plan to wife swap but the men chicken out in the process. As they plan the rest of the nights events after their failure they discover as they step off the bed terrible things happen. This movie is directed by Jeff Maher in his directorial debut and stars Colin Price (Still the Water), Alysa King (Slasher), Gwenlyn Cumyn (Chasing Valentine) and Dennis Andres (Star Trek: Discovery). The storyline for this picture was just okay but could have been better executed to make it more interesting. The special effects were a bit inconsistent, some scenes I thought were done well and some were kind of blah. The acting was also up and down throughout the movie and I didn't love the cast's performances. The wife swap scene was particularly awkward and didn't match the characters well. Overall, this was disappointing and a below average addition to the genre I'd recommend skipping. I'd score this a 3/10.

Or how about "Rest in pieces"? I know all does sound like you've heard it before. But I don't think the movie claims to be original (even though it does seem to think it is a little bit with the idea of the bed and its history). And I do agree with someone else claiming that the effects are really good. So if you are easily satisfied and don't care much about story or acting, than you will not be disappointed.

Story wise though this actually tries to be wise. With us being thrown back and forth in the time-line (?) of things happening. But of course there is more to it ... well at least the movie tries to sell it that way. Mind not blown I'd say, but neat idea. And overall entertaining. Just not a particularly good movie, just decent